[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: Why it's set at 55 m.p.h...



In article <3lsvsn$olm@convolution.eng.umd.edu>,
Dave bd Hsu <hsu@Glue.umd.edu> wrote:

Lest I be misunderstood, I need to clarify a few points.  I chose the
California illustration simply to point out that most interstates are
built to handle much higher speeds than 55.

>  Moreover, modern cars are safer, more crashworthy, better
>handling, and vastly better braking than almost anything built when 55
>became law.  To reinforce this point, the highway fatality rate remained
>about the same in those states, even before seatbelt laws, airbags, and
>cheap ABS.

I meant this last point to refer to those states which raised the speed
limit, where permissible, to 65 in the 1980s.

-dave

-- 
Dave Hsu    <hsu@glue.umd.edu>

"The only way to deal with bureaucrats is with stealth and sudden violence."
                                - UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali


References: